Papiamento

Papiamento, or Papiamentu, is the primary language spoken on the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (the so-called ABC islands).

Papiamento is a creole language whose lexicon is drawn firstly from Portuguese and Spanish (about 60%) and from Dutch (about 25%). The remainder (15%) comes from French, English, West African languages and Arawak.

History

The historical origins of Papiamento are still not very well known. It is still disputed whether Papiamento originated from Portuguese or from Spanish. Due to the resemblance between Spanish and Portuguese, it is difficult to tell whether a particular word came from one or from the other. In addition, some Arubans claim Papiamentu to be of Arawak-Spanish origin and developed mostly in Aruba, while others maintain it to be an Afro-Iberian language that developed first on Curaçao and then spread to Aruba. While such discussions often are based on historical evidence selectively interpreted for nationalist purposes, they nevertheless further complicate the debate on the origins of Papiamento.

However, historical constraints, core vocabulary and grammatical features that Papiamento shares with Cape Verdean Creole suggest that the first ingredients were Portuguese and languages of West Africa, and that the Dutch and Spanish influence occurred at a later time (17th and 18th century, respectively). The name of the language itself comes from papear ("to chat", "to talk"), a word present in both Portuguese and Spanish; compare with Papiá Kristang ("Christian talk"), a Portuguese-based creole of Indonesia, and the Cape Verdean Creole word papiâ ("to talk"). Spain claimed dominion over the islands in the 16th century, but made little use of them. In 1634 the Dutch-based West India Company (WIC) took possession of the islands, deporting their small Arawak and Spanish population to the continent, and turned them into the hub of the Dutch slave trade between Africa and the Caribbean. An outline of the competing theories is provided below.

Local development theory

There are various local development theories. One such theory proposes that Papiamento developed in the Caribbean from a Portuguese-African pidgin used for communication between African slaves and Portuguese-speaking slave traders. For religious and political reasons, the traders were mostly Jews of Portuguese origin.

The Judaeo-Portuguese population of the ABC islands increased substantially after 1654, when the Portuguese recovered the Dutch-held territories in Northeast Brazil — causing most of the Portuguese-speaking Jews in those lands to flee, for fear of being punished as Dutch collaborators. The precise role of Sephardic Jews in the early development is unclear, but it is certain that Jews play a prominent role in the later development of Papiamento. It is certain that Papiamento is linguistically similar to Ladino, the language of early Portuguese/Spanish Sephardic communities. Many early residents of Curaçao were Sephardic Jews either from Portugal, Spain, or Portuguese Brazil. Therefore, it can be assumed that Ladino was brought to the island of Curaçao, where it gradually spread to other parts of the community. As the Jewish community became the prime merchants and traders in the area, business and everyday trading was conducted in Papiamento/Ladino. As various nations owned the island and official languages changed with ownership, Papiamento/Ladino became the constant language of the residents.

African origin theory

A more recent theory holds that the origins of Papiamento lie in the Afro-Portuguese creoles that arose almost a century earlier, in the west coast of Africa and in the Cape Verde islands. From the 16th to the late 17th century, most of the slaves taken to the Caribbean came from Portuguese trading posts ("factories") in those regions. Around those ports there developed several Portuguese-African pidgins and creoles, such as Guinea-Bissau Creole, Mina, Cape Verdean Creole, Angolar, and Guene. The latter bears strong resemblances to Papiamento. According to this theory, Papiamento was derived from those pre-existing pidgins/creoles, especially Guene, which were brought to the ABC islands by slaves and/or traders from Cape Verde and West Africa.

Some specifically claim that Afro-Portuguese mother language of Papiamentu arose from a mixture of the Mina pidgin/creole (a mixture of Cape Verdean pidgin/creole with Twi) and the Angolar creole (derived from languages of Angola and Congo).Proponents of this theory of Papiamento contend that it can easily be compared and linked with other Portuguese creoles, especially the African ones (namely Forro, Guinea-Bissau Creole, and the Cape Verdean Creole). For instance, Compare mi ("I" in Cape Verdean Creole and Papiamento) or bo (meaning you in both creoles). Mi is from the Portuguese mim (IPA: [mĩ], me) and bo is from Portuguese vós (you) . The use of "b" instead of "v" is very common in the African Portuguese Creoles due to their relation with Northern Portugal dialects.

Papiamento is, in some degree, intelligible with Cape Verdean creoles and could be explained by the immigration of Portuguese Sephardic Jews from Cape Verde to these Caribbean islands, although this same fact could also be used by dissenters to explain a later Portuguese influence on an already existing Spanish-based creole . Another comparison is the use of the verb ta and taba ta from vernacular Portuguese tá (an aphesis of estar, "to be" or está, "it is") with verbs where Portuguese does and with others where it does not use it: "Mi ta + verb" or "Mi taba ta + verb", also the rule in the Barlavento Cape Verdean Creoles . These issues can also be seen in other Portuguese Creoles (Martinus 1996; see also Fouse 2002 and McWhorter 2000).

Present status

Many Papiamento speakers are also able to speak Dutch, English and Spanish. Venezuelan Spanish is a constant influence today, especially in Aruba. In the Netherlands Antilles, Papiamento was made an official language on March 7, 2007.

Dialects

Papiamento has three main dialects, one per island: Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire.

Sounds

Most Papiamento vowels are based on Ibero-Romance vowels, but some are also based on Dutch vowels like : ee, ui, ie, oe, ij, ei, oo, and aa.

Grammar

Vocabulary

Most of the vocabulary is derived from Portuguese and Spanish, and most of the time the real origin is unknown due to the great similarity between the two Iberian languages and the adaptations required by Papiamentu. Linguistic studies have shown that roughly two thirds of the words in Papiamentu's present vocabulary are of Iberian origin, a quarter are of Dutch origin, and the rest come from other tongues.

Examples of words of Iberian origin, which are impossible to label as either Portuguese or Spanish:

• Por fabor = Please - Portuguese/Spanish por favor
• Señora = Mrs, Madam, - Portuguese Senhora, Spanish Señora
• Kua? = Which? - Portuguese, Qual; Spanish, Cuál
• Kuantu? = How much? - Portuguese, Quanto; Spanish, Cuánto

While the presence of word-final /u/ can easily be traced to Portuguese, the diphthongization of some vowels is characteristic of Spanish. The use of /b/ (rather than /v/) is difficult to interpret; although the two are separate phonemes in standard Portuguese, they merge in the dialects of northern Portugal, just like they do in Spanish. Also, a sound-shift could have occurred in the direction of Spanish, whose influence on Papiamento came later than that of Portuguese.

Other words can have dual origin, and certainly dual influence. For instance: subrino (nephew): sobrinho in Portuguese, sobrino in Spanish. The pronunciation of "o" as /u/ is traceable to Portuguese, while the use of "n" instead of "nh" (IPA /ɲ/) in the ending "-no", relates to Spanish.

Portuguese origin words:

• sapato = shoes - Portuguese sapato, Spanish, zapato
• cacho = dog - Portuguese cachorro (dog or puppy), Spanish, cachorro (puppy)
• bisiña = neighbour - Portuguese vizinho, vizinha, Spanish, vecino, vecina

Spanish origin words:

• ciudat = city - Spanish ciudad, Portuguese cidade
• sombre = hat - Spanish sombrero, Portuguese chapeu"
• carson = trousers - Spanish calzón, Portuguese calção

Dutch origin words:

• apel = apple - Dutch appel
• blou = blue - Dutch blauw
• buki = book - Dutch boekje
• lesa = to read - Dutch lezen

Dictionaries

• Mansur, Jossy M. (1991) Dictionary English-Papiamento Papiamento-English. Oranjestad: Edicionnan Clasico Diario
• Betty Ratzlaff (1992) Papiamentu-Ingles, Dikshonario Bilingual. Bonaire: TWR Dictionary Foundation
• Papiamento – English Dictionary

Writing system

There are two orthographies: a more phonetic one called Papiamentu (in Curaçao and Bonaire), and the etymological spelling used in Aruba (and formerly used on all three islands).

Examples

Phrase samples

NOTE: These examples are from the Aruban Papiamento, not the other Papiamentu

• Bon bini! = Welcome!, Portuguese

• Bon dia = Good morning, Portuguese Bom dia; Spanish Buenos días

• Moru = The short way of saying "Good morning" from Dutch "(Goede) morgen"

• Bon tardi = Good afternoon, Portuguese Boa tarde, Spanish buenas tardes

• Bon nochi = Good night (Portuguese, Boa noite; Spanish, Buenas noches)

• Kon ta bai? or Kon ta c'e bida? = How are you? or How is life?, Portuguese, Como vai?/Como está a vida?, Spanish ¿Cómo te va?

• Mi ta bon, danki = I'm fine, thank you.

• Tur cos ta bon = everything is all right, Portuguese tudo está bem (bom) (kos = coisa)

• Hopi bon or Tremendo = I'm all right or I feel very bad

• Trankilo = calm, Portuguese tranqüilo, Spanish tranquilo

• Hopi kalor = very hot/warm, Portuguese/Spanish calor/caliente (hopi = Dutch hoop, lit. a heap, a lot)

• Kon yama bo? or Con bo nomber ta? = What's your name?, Portuguese/Spanish Como você se chama? / Como te llamas?

• Ami yama Raul or Mi nomber ta Raul = My name is Raul, Portuguese, Me Chamo Raul / Meu nome é Raul; Spanish, Mi nombre es Raul/Me llamo Raul

• Di unda bo ta? = Where are you from?, Portuguese, De onde você vem?

• Mi ta bin(i) di… = I come from…, Portuguese Eu venho de…

• Mi ta biba na… = I live in…, Portuguese Eu vivo na…, Spanish Yo vivo en…

• Por fabor = Please, Portuguese/Spanish por favor

• Danki = Thank you, Dutch, Dank u

• Di nada! = it was no trouble at all! (or it was nothing!), Portuguese/Spanish De nada

• Hende homber = Male, Portuguese, Homem; Spanish Hombre

• Hende muhe = Female, Portuguese Mulher; Spanish Mujer

• Hende = mankind, or people, Spanish "gente"in Papiamento "female" and "male" attribute is referred externally

• Si = Yes, Spanish Sí; Portuguese Sim

• No = No, Spanish No; Portuguese Não

• Ainda no = Not yet, Portuguese Ainda não

• Ayo! = Goodbye!, Portuguese Adeus; Spanish Adiós

• Te otro biaha! = until next time!, Portuguese Até outro dia

• Te awero (Te' oro) = See you later!

• Mi ta sinti bo falta! = I miss you!, Portuguese Eu sinto vossa falta!, Spanish me haces falta

• Mi (ta) stima bo = I love you, Portuguese Eu (te) estimo (você) / Eu te amo

• Awor / Aworaki = Now, Portuguese Agora; Spanish Ahora

• Ayera = Yesterday, Spanish Ayer

• Mi tin hamber = I am hungry, from Spanish Tengo hambre

• Mi tin sed = I am thirsty, Spanish Tengo sed, Portuguese Tenho sede

• Laga nos ban sali! = Let's go out!, Spanish ¡Vamos a salir!

• Te mañan!, Te mas awero! (Te' oro), Te despues! =Until tomorrow!, see you later!, Till the next time!, Portuguese Até amanhã, Até logo, Até depois)

• Pabien! = Happy birthday! (also means congratulations!), Portuguese Parabéns!

• Bon Aña! = Happy new year!, Portuguese Feliz ano novo or Bom ano; Spanish Feliz año nuevo

• Bon pascu (di nasemento)! Bon pasco (di resurecion) = Merry Christmas! Happy Easter!, Portuguese, Boa Páscoa

• No lubida! = Don't forget!, Spanish, No olvides

• Korda skibi mi bek mas lihe posibel! = Write me back as soon as possible!

• Mener = Mister, Portuguese Senhor; Spanish Señor; Dutch Meneer

• Señora = Mrs, Madam, Portuguese Senhora, Spanish Señora

• Jufrouw = Miss, Ms., Dutch, juffrouw

• Mi number di telefon ta… = my phone number is…, Portuguese Meu número de telefone é…, Spanish Mi número de teléfono es…

• Yama'mi = Call me (by telephone); Spanish Llámame.

• Oloshi = Clock /watch, Dutch: "horloge", Spanish: "reloj", Portuguese: "relógio"

• Mi ta stimabo = I love you.

• Masha contentu di conoshebo = Nice to meet you; Portuguese: (Estou) muito contente em conhecê-lo (not sure of the translation).

• Bo mama ta masha simpatica = Your mother is nice.

Comparison of Vocabularies

This section provides a comparison of the vocabularies of Portuguese, Papiamento and the Portuguese creoles of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde.

English	Portuguese	Papiamento	Guinea-Bissau	Cape Verdean* **
Welcome	Bem-vindo	Bon Bini	Bem-vindo***	Bem-vindo***
Good day	Bom Dia	Bon dia	Bon dia	Bon dia
Thank you	Obrigado	Danki	Obrigadu	Obrigadu
How are you?	Como vai?	Kon ta bai?	Kumá ku bo na bai?	Módi ki bu sa ta bai?
Very good	Muito bom	Hopi bon	Mutu bon	Mutu bon
I am fine	Eu estou bem	Mi ta bon	N' sta bon	N sta dretu
I, I am	Eu, Eu Sou	Mi, Mi ta	N', Mi i	N, Mi e
Have a nice day	Tenha um bom dia	Pasa un bon dia	Pasa un bon dia	Pasa un bon dia
See you later	Vejo você depois, Até logo	Te aworo	N' ta odjá-u dipus	N ta odjâ-u dipôs
Food	Comida	Kuminda	Bianda	Kumida
Bread	Pão	Pan	Pon	Pon
Juice	Suco, Refresco, Sumo	Refresco	Sumu	Sumu
I love Curaçao	Eu amo Curaçao	Mi stima Curaçao	N' gosta di Curaçao	N gosta di Curaçao

*Santiago variant
**Writing system adopted in this example: ALUPEC
***Portuguese word used in Creole;

Bibliography

• Efraim Frank Martinus (1996) The Kiss of a Slave: Papiamentu's West-African Connections. University of Amsterdam Press.
• Gary Fouse (2002) The Story of Papiamentu. New York: University Press of America
• John H. Holm (1989) Pidgins and Creoles Volume One. Theory and Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• John McWhorter (2000) The Missing Spanish Creoles: Recovering the Birth of Plantation Contact Language. Berkeley: University of California Press.

See also

• Creole language
• Linguistics
• Palenquero
• Afro-Latin American

External links

• Papiamentu: Ethnologue report on Papiamentu.
• Papiamento – English Dictionary
• Newspaper from Aruba
• La Prensa A Leading Curaçao Newspaper in Papiamentu
• Hasibokos I-News in Papiamento (and Dutch)
• Radio Curom Listen to Papiamentu Radio
• Papiamentu - history and grammatical features
• Papiamentu origins
• Bible Excerpt in Papiamentu
• Papiamentu Translator a simple online translation English - Papiamentu
• For a discussion about the origins of Papiamentu, see "Papiamentu facts", an essay by Attila Narin.